Max Joseph von Pettenkofer
Max Joseph Pettenkofer, ennobled in 1883 as Max Joseph von Pettenkofer (3 December 1818 – 10 February 1901) was a Bavarian chemist and hygienist. He is known for his work in practical hygiene, as an apostle of good water, fresh air and proper sewage disposal. He was further known as an anti-contagionist, a school of thought, named later on, that did not believe in the then novel concept that bacteria were the main cause of disease. In particular he argued in favor of a variety of conditions collectively contributing to the incidence of disease including: personal state of health, the fermentation of environmental ground water, and also the germ in question.[1] He was most well known for his establishment of hygiene as an experimental science and also was a strong proponent for the founding of hygiene institutes in Germany. His work served as an example which other institutes around the world emulated.[2]
Early life and education
Pettenkofer was born in Lichtenheim, near
Career as chemist
After working under
Career as hygienist
Pettenkofer's name is most familiar in connection with his work in practical hygiene, as an apostle of good water, fresh air and proper sewage disposal. His attention was drawn to this subject by the unhealthy condition in Munich in the 19th century. Specifically he examined the field of hygiene and determined that there was a minimal amount of rigorous research.[6] He was responsible for transitioning the field of hygiene into a research-oriented field.[2] He is further responsible for the acceptance of hygiene as a science to be examined in medical schools and to be taught in specific hygiene departments. In 1865 his petitions to the government were accepted and three departments of hygiene were established in Munich, Würzburg, and Erlangen.[2] By 1882 hygiene was included in examinations for medical students in every major city of Germany.[6] As one of the principal proponents for the field of hygiene in Munich he was responsible for giving presentations to government officials in order to secure funding for public health projects.
One of the prevailing arguments of the day that Pettenkofer focused on was the relationship between sewage and the health of a population. In one of his first major projects in his home city of Munich Pettenkofer advocated for the development of running water throughout the city. He also emphasized the selection of the Mangfall River, not the readily at hand and highly polluted Isar River, as the source of the city's drinking water.[7] Many of his additions and plans for the city's sewage system are reflected today in the current sewage system layout.[6]
During his schooling he studied for a time under Justus von Liebig where he applied his study of chemistry to the study of chemical reactions occurring within the body. This in particular focused on the study of the science of nutrition and the reactions in the body that consumed foods and produced the processes of the body.[1] He further advocated for reform of the food production system used in Munich. He argued that the system for the study of proper cattle feed was more well developed than that for humans and recommended civic funding for studying proper nutrition.[2] He proposed that this study of nutrition was important specifically for the poor and those in strictly controlled environments such as prison because they were most at risk for obtaining sub-par nutrition due to their limited control over their food consumption.[2]
He further advocated for the construction of more spacious living accommodations. He asserted that there was a strong link between proper circulation of "good air" through houses, adequate space for living, and the health of the occupants.[2] His beliefs aligned significantly with the school of thought known as the Miasma theory. He firmly believed that the causes of disease were related to the multitude of environmental factors that the people of Munich were required to live in. Air was of a particular interest to him and he continued to advocate for its relevance to the processes of disease, specifically the spread of cholera.[2][6] He was also a strong proponent of regular bathing and changing of clothes in its relationship to health through the further regulation of the heat of the body. He advocated that health was the collective responsibility of a city to behave as best they are able to further the health of the general population.[2]
In addition to the wide number of publications and lectures that he gave on the subject of public health Pettenkofer was also involved in the initiative to create an Institute of Public Health in Munich. He continued research into a variety of fields listed above as head of the Institute of Physiology in Munich from 1857 onwards.[6] After numerous successful audiences with two of the kings of Bavaria he had helped found the first three hygiene departments.[3] In 1879 he finally achieved his goal of the creation of a standalone Institute of Hygiene in Munich.[2] This institution was larger than his previous accommodations in the department of Physiology and allowed him to continue to his research and to gather a large cohort of research students under his teachings.[2] The founding of his Institute of Hygiene drew significant international attention and was considered a model for many later institutions including the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health in Baltimore.[6]
During his career his position as a strong proponent of public health at times placed him at odds with his contemporaries, most notably
Publications
Pettenkofer published his views on hygiene and disease in numerous books and papers; he was an editor of the Zeitschrift für Biologie (together with Carl von Voit) from 1865 to 1882, and of the Archiv für Hygiene from 1883 to 1894. In addition to his research publications he also gave a significant number of lectures to government officials in order to persuade them to provide funding for civic works and governmental oversight committees to promote and assess the state public health.[2]
Pettenkofer appeared in Scientific American in 1883 discussing carbon monoxide poisoning resulting from coal gas leaks in public spaces, noting endogenous carbon monoxide is always detectable in the sick and dead as carboxyhemoglobin.[9] In the same magazine, Pettenkofer is recognized to have developed an accurate quantitative analysis method for determining atmospheric carbon dioxide.[10]
The 1899 handwritten manuscript 'On the self purification of rivers' and Pettenkofer's papers can be found at the archives of the
Death
In 1894 he retired from active work, and on 10 February 1901 he shot himself in a fit of
Recognition
During his lifetime he received numerous accolades. He was presented with the title of "Honorary Citizen" of Munich and given a gold medal. His work in hygiene precipitated the creation of the "Pettenkofer Foundation for Research in Hygiene" which received funding from the cities of Munich and Leipzig to fund research projects related to Hygiene and Public Health.[2]
In 1883 he was awarded a hereditary title of nobility and was given the title "Excellency."[2]
In 1897 he was awarded the Harlen Medal from the British Institute of Public Health.[6]
Max Joseph von Pettenkofer's name features on the Frieze of the
References
- ^ a b von Liebig, Justus (1848). Animal Chemistry (Third ed.). New York: Wiley and Putnam. pp. 138–139.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n von Pettenkofer, Max (1941). The Value of Health to a City. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press. p. 3.
- ^ a b c d e Dolman, Claude. "Max Josef von Pettenkofer". encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-530573-9.
- ^ , M. Ueber einen antiken rothen Glasfluss (Haematinon) und über Aventurin-Glas. Abhandlungen der naturw.-techn. Commission der k. b. Akad. der Wissensch. I. Bd. München, literar.-artist. Anstalt, 1856.
- ^ PMID 21432069.
- .
- ISBN 0520212819.
- ^ Scientific American. Munn & Company. 1883. p. 147.
- ^ Scientific American. Munn & Company. 16 January 1869. p. 39.
- ^ "Max Von Pettenkofer's collection entry at the LSHTM Archives". LSHTM Archives. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
- ^ "Behind the Frieze – Max von Pettenkofer (1818–1901)". Archive version of LSHTM Library and Archives. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
- Attribution
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Pettenkofer, Max Joseph von". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 21 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
External links
- Pettenkofer School of Public Health
- Audio version of this page
- Picture, short biography, and bibliography in the Virtual Laboratory of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science
- Snowden, Frank (2010). "Epidemics in Western Society Since 1600: Lecture 13 — Contagionism versus Anticontagionism". Open Yale Courses. Yale University.
- "Max Joseph Pettenkofer", FamilySearch